Europe

MOSCOW, November 6. /TASS/: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia grew by 4,566 in the past 24 hours compared with 5,617 on the previous day, the federal anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Sunday.

Less than 5,000 cases have been registered in the country in one day for the first time since July 19. The total number of cases in Russia since the pandemic started has reached 21,463,850.

MOSCOW, November 6. /TASS/: Car traffic on the Crimean Bridge will be suspended temporarily on November 8 due to repair and recovery activities, the press service of the Russian Transport Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

"On November 8, from 4 am to 4 pm (Moscow time) car traffic on the Crimean Bridge will be suspended due to repair and recovery activities," the statement reads.

LONDON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is standing by a government minister who has been accused of bullying a colleague, cabinet office minister Oliver Dowden said on Sunday, saying the phone messages in question were sent "in the heat of the moment".

The allegations, reported by the Sunday Times newspaper, have surfaced only days following criticism of Sunak for reappointing Suella Braverman as interior minister after she was fired by his predecessor for breaching email security rules.

MILAN, Nov 6 (Reuters) - A German-flagged charity vessel refused to leave the Sicilian port of Catania on Sunday, after Italian authorities said not all the migrants it was carrying could disembark, the NGO responsible for the vessel said.

"The captain of the Humanity 1, who is legally responsible for the safety of all people on board, has refused the request to leave the port with the remaining 35 survivors on board," the German NGO said.

ZURICH, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Switzerland should avoid following the European Union by imposing sanctions on China if it cares about Swiss-Sino relations, the Chinese ambassador to Bern told the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper.

Last year, the EU accused Chinese officials of mass detentions of Muslim Uighurs and human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region and imposed its first sanctions against Beijing since an arms embargo in 1989 following the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Switzerland has not yet decided to follow the EU's lead.

Nov 6 (Reuters) - Ukraine's Russian-held Nova Kakhovka dam was damaged in shelling by Ukrainian forces, Russian news agencies reported on Sunday, citing emergency services.

Russian state-owned news agency TASS quoted a representative of the emergency services as saying that a rocket launched by a U.S.-made HIMARS missile system had hit the dam's lock and caused damaged. The official quoted said it was an "attempt to create the conditions for a humanitarian catastrophe" by breaching the dam.

GENEVA, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Saturday issued an open letter to Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer of Twitter, saying "ensure human rights are central to the management of Twitter".

The letter followed reports of Twitter's massive layoff of staff on Friday, including its human rights team and ethical AI team.

"Respect for our shared human rights should set the guardrails for the platform's use and evolution," Turk said in the letter.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The mayor of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, is warning residents that they must prepare for the worst this winter if Russia keeps striking the country’s energy infrastructure — and that means having no electricity, water or heat in the freezing cold cannot be ruled out.

06 Nov 2022; MEMO: US and Iranian media reported that Russia would retaliate if Israel sent defensive weapons to Ukraine.

Bloomberg reported that Russia would respond if Israel sent air defence systems directly or indirectly to Ukraine.

MILAN (AP) — Italy allowed a humanitarian rescue ship carrying 179 migrants to enter a Sicilian port and begin disembarking minors early Sunday, while refusing to respond to requests for safe harbor from three other ships carrying 900 more people in nearby waters.

Italy’s new far-right-led government has closed its ports to rescue ship run by non-governmental groups and insists that the countries whose flag the ships fly must take in the migrants. It granted the Humanity 1 alone access to port to land minors and people needing medical attention.